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US reduces its internet oversight
After lengthy delays and no small amount of political opposition, it's official: the US has given up a key aspect of internet oversight. As of October 1st, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the outfit that manages the domain name system) is no longer under the watch of the US' National Telecommunications and Information Administration. ICANN is now a private, non-profit organization that will take its input from academics, companies, governments and the public. While the American government didn't really wield its influence, it no longer has that option.
Democrats slam Republicans fighting the internet handover
If you thought Facebook and Google raised a big fuss over Republican opposition to the US' plan to hand the internet's 'keys' (the authority managing domain name assignments) to an international governing body, you haven't seen anything yet. A quintet of House and Senate Democrats have used TechCrunch to post an open letter to the Republicans, chastising them over their resistance to the transition to ICANN. While Senator Ted Cruz and supporters have previously claimed that international control would make it easier for authoritarian governments to censor the internet, the Democrats reject this outright. The task of managing the domain name system is "clerical," they argue -- countries like China or Russia can't manipulate content just because DNS isn't under exclusive US oversight.
The US won't end its internet oversight for another year
If you were looking forward to the US relinquishing its internet oversight at the end of September... well, you'll be disappointed. The Department of Commerce has delayed the transition by "at least" a year. Simply put, the community isn't yet ready to take the reins -- it won't have time to both submit and implement its plans, which need a government rubber stamp to go ahead. The breathing room should give ICANN and friends a smoother transition that keeps the internet's domain name system out of the hands of governments and other parties that might want to limit free speech or privacy. There's no certainty that this is the last delay, but the Commerce Department can extend its ICANN partnership for up to three more years if there's a particularly serious logjam.
ICANN reveals plan for ending America's control of the internet
Though it's called the "world wide web," the US Commerce Department has held the keys to the internet since its inception in the '90s. Last year, it agreed to hand them over to worldwide bodies and asked ICANN, the group that manages internet addresses, to come up with a plan. ICANN unveiled the much anticipated report yesterday, and has given the public until September 8th to comment on it. The gist of the 100-page document? Internet control functions will be given to ICANN and an oversight body made up of "interested parties" that has no connection to any world governments.
Europe pushes for a less US-dominated internet
The European Union is more than a little jittery about a US-centric internet after learning the extent of the country's mass surveillance. Accordingly, the European Commission has proposed a whole host of measures that would shift control to the international community. It wants a firm schedule for globalizing internet infrastructure, more power for the Internet Governance Forum, fewer conflicts between countries' internet laws and a venue for improving transparency policies. The regulator doesn't want to give too much clout to any one group, though -- Commission VP Neelie Kroes prefers a "multi-stakeholder" approach that lets innovators move at their own pace. The proposal still needs support from both the Council of the EU and the European Parliament before it can take effect, but it could give Europe a united front when it's pushing for changes in internet policy. [Image credit: The Council of the European Union]
Internet infrastructure groups push for more independence from US monitoring
Internet overseers like ICANN, the IETF and the W3C aren't happy that the US strongly influences their operations, especially when it likes to spy on much of the world. Accordingly, several of these organizations have just called for truly international governance of online affairs. The groups want to speed up the globalization of their roles and let everyone contribute "on an equal footing." In other words, they want national institutions like the US Department of Commerce (which monitors ICANN) out of the picture. A statement of intent doesn't guarantee action, but it's clear that Americans shouldn't expect to maintain their current level of control.
RIPE NCC handing out its last block of IPv4 addresses, tries to fend off internet survivalism
In a world where IPv6 lives and IPv4 addresses are scarce, network providers must fight for survival... or at least, claim their IP blocks quickly. The RIPE NCC, the regional internet registry for Asia, Europe and the Middle East, warns that it's down to assigning its last set of 16.8 million IPv4 addresses as of this weekend. That sounds like a lot, but we'd do well to remember that the registry churned through about 5.2 million addresses in just the past two weeks. What's left won't be around for long, folks. To cut back on the number of Mad Max-style battles for dwindling resources, RIPE NCC is rationing out IPv4 for local registries in 1,024-address chunks -- and only to those who both have IPv6 assignments as well as proof of a need for IPv4. With just a bit more than half of the RIPE NCC's customers currently on IPv6, that could still trigger a shortfall among networks that haven't prepared for the internet protocol apocalypse. We'd advise that companies stock up on IPv6 supplies before launching the raiding parties.
